Top 10 Game Design and Game-Making Bogs, Books, and Pods

As a game maker and designer, I understand the importance of staying up-to-date with the latest trends and techniques in game design and development. To help my fellow designers and developers, I have compiled three lists: the top 10 game design and game-making blogs, the top 10 YouTube channels, and the top 10 game design podcasts.

Top 10 Game Design and Game-Making Blogs:

1. Gamasutra: https://www.gamasutra.com/
2. Game Designing: https://gamedesigning.org/
3. Game Maker’s Toolkit: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersToolkit
4. Unity Blog: https://blogs.unity3d.com/
5. Extra Credits: https://www.extra-credits.net/
6. Tuts+ Game Development: https://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/
7. GDC: https://www.gdconf.com/news
8. Kotaku: https://kotaku.com/
9. Rock Paper Shotgun: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/
10. The Escapist: https://www.escapistmagazine.com/

Top 10 YouTube Channels:

1. Extra Credits: https://www.youtube.com/c/ExtraCredits
2. Game Maker’s Toolkit: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameMakersToolkit
3. Brackeys: https://www.youtube.com/c/Brackeys
4. GDC: https://www.youtube.com/c/Gdconf
5. Unity: https://www.youtube.com/c/UnityTechnologies
6. The Game Theorists: https://www.youtube.com/c/MatthewPatrick13
7. SethBling: https://www.youtube.com/c/SethBling
8. Polygon: https://www.youtube.com/c/Polygon
9. IGN: https://www.youtube.com/c/IGNentertainment
10. GameSpot: https://www.youtube.com/c/gamespot

Top 10 Game Design Podcasts:

1. Designer Notes: https://www.idlethumbs.net/designernotes/
2. The Game Design Round Table: https://thegamedesignroundtable.com/
3. The AIAS Game Maker’s Notebook: https://interactive.libsyn.com/
4. Game Dev Unchained: https://www.gamedevunchained.com/
5. The Debug Log: https://thedebuglog.com/
6. Ludology: https://ludology.libsyn.com/
7. 3 Moves Ahead: https://www.idlethumbs.net/3ma/
8. The Critical Path: https://www.idlethumbs.net/tonecontrol/
9. The AIAS Game Maker’s Toolkit: https://interactive.libsyn.com/
10. Script Lock: https://www.scriptlockshow.com/

Top 10 Game Design Books:

1. The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses by Jesse Schell
2. Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals by Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman
3. The Game Design Reader: A Rules of Play Anthology edited by Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman
4. A Theory of Fun for Game Design by Raph Koster
5. Challenges for Game Designers by Brenda Brathwaite and Ian Schreiber
6. Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games by Tracy Fullerton
7. Theory of Fun for Game Design Workbook by Raph Koster
8. The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design by Flint Dille and John Zuur Platten
9. Theories of Digital Media by Brian Ott and Robert Mack
10. Game Programming Patterns by Robert Nystrom

Bonus: For the critical analyst in us: Game Studies Study Buddies (my sermon). I live for the content of Cameron and Michael, two brilliant scholars doing the games thing with precise philosophical inquiry and interest in the dialectic of games and how they affect and effect.

I hope this helps